HENRY BROUGHAM FARNIE (1836 -1889) was a teacher, writer and journalist in mid-Victorian Fife (Scotland), until his scandalous private life caused him to flee to London. While at first continuing as a journalist, he began writing for the theatre and made the adaptation of French opera bouffe his chosen field. Almost single-handedly he made the genre popular, and popular enough to compete strongly with Gilbert and Sullivan's new English operetta. He had more big hits on the London stage than any of his contemporaries and his best shows were constantly revived in the Edwardian period and between the wars, and were popular throughout the English-speaking world. Then he was forgotten until his pantomime in collaboration with Offenbach, WHITTINGTON, the only show Offenbach ever did to an English text, was revived as a 'millenium' special. But he was a significant figure in the theatre of his day.

The Queme Press in conjunction with The Fife Family History Society (2010) pp220, coloured pictorial wraps